terima kasih buat kalian semua..

Friday, January 1, 2010

Ad campaign an insult to us taxpayers

I REFER to the full-page press advertisement by the Income Tax Department in The Star yesterdaywhich compared Malaysia to “less fortunate countries” and asked if we “really appreciate the bounty of our fortune”.

I am wondering what bounty the department is referring to.

Is it our world-class education system?

Is it our friendly, efficient and transparent government services?

Maybe it is referring to our clean, safe and efficient public transport system.

Or maybe it’s our crime-free streets, where a person or child can roam freely without fear of being kidnapped or robbed.

We are a relatively small country of just 27 million people, and unlike other less fortunate countries with much larger populations, we have abundant natural resources such as oil, land, water, rubber, timber, palm oil and minerals.

But I am also wondering where all the bounty that we have apparently “received so much” of is because I am sure not feeling it at all.

I wonder if the 300,000 Malay­sians who emigrated in the 18 months (source: Bernama) prior to August this year were appreciative of the bounty of their fortune.

That’s 1% of the population of Malaysia who chose to leave for good and make lives in other countries – in just a year and a half.

Perhaps there should be an advertising campaign directed at those who really receive so much and give back so little, and not the taxpayers in the street who are not even getting the basic rights they deserve, such as good education, good governance and security.

The ad campaign is an insult to Malaysians and our money would be better spent in ways that would improve our lives.